Hiya Folks!

Here's the 4th installment of AML. Standard warnings applies as usual.
Read at your own risk. :)

Requesting C&C. This is a first cut rough draft, so technical editing
spelling/grammar), style comments, and factual error stomping are all
appreciated. Per my own personal ethics, MSTings, 'Look, Ma. I'm a
comedian!', and 'I'm So Clever' quips and snipes will be cheerfully ignored.

Many thanks to the various FFML and IRC members who provided detailed C&C
of previous chapters. *MUCH* appreciated.

This is a Ranma crossover fanfic, so it's time for the
Standard Fanfic Disclaimer.
------------------------------------------------------------
All previously existing characters taken from anime series
and used in fan fiction stories are owned solely by their
respective copyright and trademark holders. I don't own them
and I don't make any claim to them. Original characters are
owned by myself and I reserve all rights to their use.
------------------------------------------------------------

The HTML version of the story along with previous chapter(s) can be found at:
http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic/mlove


Gaijin Productions presents:
=============================================================
A MOTHER'S LOVE
     A multiple-series crossover fan fiction by Togashi Gaijin
     This story is set after the end of the manga.
=============================================================
Chapter 4

Ranma grunted when a slashing strike snaked its way through her guard -
again - to land hard against her ribs. Her mother had the reach on her
and didn't hesitate to exploit the advantage to its fullest. She had
been training with the daisho for over a week and had yet to score a
single solid hit without having to resort to the Amaguriken or other
special ki technique. It was maddening, it was frustrating, it was
exhilarating as all heck and she loved every single second of it.

"Break!"

"Nice hit, Mom!"

Nodoka smiled at her son turned daughter. Ranma was progressing quite
rapidly in combat and rarely needed to see a kata more than twice
before she could duplicate it to perfection. Her enthusiasm for the Art
was also highly contagious.

"Thank you, dear. Now, can you tell me why you failed to block the last
blow?"

Ranma played back the last sequence of strikes in her head. Everything
flowed smoothly until her mother's counter-thrust which forced her own
katana to overextend for just a moment in sixth. The five strike
sequence that followed was easy to predict and ended with equally
predictable results.

"I don't know, Mom. I know *where* I went wrong - it was your last
counter in sixth - but I can't quite see how I got that far out of
position."

"Your right foot was out of position for your second attack in third."

"All the way back *there*?" Ranma thought hard for a few seconds before
shaking her head. "OK, I see it now, but I thought I'd stopped over-
striding a couple of days ago. Evidently not."

"It was a very small mistake, daughter. Most opponents wouldn't have
noticed it, but you cannot rely on that always happening."

"Nope, you sure can't," Ranma concurred, "and that's something Ryouga
never even tried to learn; in spite of the number of times we sparred.
Too bad, too. He used to have really good technique until the old ghoul
taught him the Bakusai Tenketsu; now he just bulls his way through on
strength alone." Ranma's expression edged close to a smirk. "I wonder
where old bacon breath wandered off to this time ..."

"Daughter, what have I told you about unnecessary name calling?"

"Huh?" Ranma thought for a second before pinking slightly. "Oh, right.
Sorry, Mom."

Nodoka nodded once, satisfied the point had been made.

"Now, let's start the entire sequence over from the beginning."

Ranma raised both her bokken back up to guard position and waited for
her mother's attack. The sharp staccato of strikes and blocks quickly
filled the dojo.

--------------------

Dinnertime at the Shouri household was considerably different than what
had been the norm at the Tendos'. For one, the ever-present chopstick
battle was missing, as was the intermittent stream of snide comments
and thinly veiled insults that had accompanied the dueling utensils.
The pace of the meal was also more relaxed - although the younger
participant would quarrel somewhat on applying the term 'relaxed' to
the rest of the mealtime rules.

Ranma tried not to fidget while he waited for his mother to finish
eating the last of her rice. Even though following the 'traditional'
rules of mealtime etiquette allowed him to actually enjoy food instead
of being forced by circumstances to simply inhale it, the peace and
quiet at the table was beginning to bother him a little. He was
actually starting to miss the hustle and chaos which had accompanied
his meals at the Tendos' for the last seventeen months.

He helped clear the table as soon as his mother had completed her meal.
The end of the main course signaled the beginning of both his most and
least favorite part of dinner - dessert, with its accompanying Family
Talk period. Ranma was a little surprised when his mother sat back down
at the table after only bringing out the tea service.

"No need to fret, son; dessert will be served once our guests have
arrived."

"Guests?" Ranma began to worry; Mom had assumed her 'social face'.

"Yes. Now that school is essentially over for the year, I thought it
wise to address the last of your outstanding commitments. I've invited
the Chinese girl and her elder guardian over; they should be arriving
shortly."

Hoo boy.

"Now dear, I would like to know the details of what happened each time
you received the 'Kiss' from the girl. My younger sister had some
interesting suggestions on how we might handle the situation, but
everything depends on knowing exactly what had occurred. We should
start with the marriage kiss first."

Ranma furrowed his eyebrows a bit as he tried to remember details.
Those few days had been crazier than usual, with the skating match,
Shampoo's arrival, and Akane's shiatsu-induced amnesia happening all at
about the same time.

"Hmmm, let's see ... We'd just finished the skating match when Shampoo
busted through the locker room wall. I was a girl at the time so she
attacked a bit before I could lose her. She'd been chasin' me and Pops
since we left her village and didn't know about the curse yet. When
Akane and I got home we found Shampoo havin' tea with Kasumi. Pops was
a panda and I was a guy, so when Kasumi greeted me Shampoo thought I
was a different Ranma. Me and Ryouga and Akane and Shampoo all got in a
general tussle until Shampoo tried to kill Akane - that's when I kicked
the head of her bonbori off its shaft. It flew up and when it came back
down again it bonked Shampoo on the head and knocked her out. When she
came to, she kissed me on the mouth. Hard."

"Son, do you remember yelling out any challenge right before you
defended Akane from Shampoo?"

Ranma thought for a minute. "Don't think so. I kinda remember saying
something about not playing ball in the house, but that's about it."

"Did you say it loud enough for Shampoo to hear?"

"Oh yeah, but it wouldn't of mattered - she didn't know any Japanese at
the time."

Nodoka rubbed her eyes with both hands, trying to stave off the
incipient headache.  This was an even larger mess than she could have
possibly imagined. She drank the rest of her tea and poured herself
another cup before continuing.

"We'll just have to leave that alone for now. What about the 'Kiss of
Death'?"

"Now THAT I remember *real* well. Pops and I were following the Guide
after we'd just gotten cursed. We were out of almost everything and the
Guide said he'd take us to a local village where we could get some more
supplies. It was a two day hike from the valley to the village and by
the time we got there we were both wet and starvin', since it'd rained
earlier that morning. We got there just after noon and there was this
huge tournament going on. The Guide brought us right to a big table of
food, so Pops and I started munchin' away while the last match was
fought."

"The Guide didn't bother warnin' us that we were eatin' the
tournament's first prize until it was too late. Shampoo came storming
over and took a swipe at me which I dodged, yelling out something in
Chinese. The Guide told us we were stealing her prize, and that it was
hers because she was now the champion. I told her 'Then if I defeat
you, you've got no problem, right?' After she agreed we jumped up on
the log and I took her out with a single wheel kick. She walked over to
me after I got back off the log - that's when she kissed me on the
cheek."

"The guide grabbed my hand and started running *real* fast, right when
some drums began banging back in the village. I barely had time to grab
my pack on the fly before he ran the both of us out the village walls
and told me I just got the Kiss of Death. Shampoo chased us all the way
back to Japan after that."

"I see," Nodoka replied. "Do you know if anyone in the village
understood your challenge correctly?"

Ramna gave his mother a puzzled look. "They had to, Mom - the Jusenkyou
Guide was right there doing all the translatin'. I gather pretty much
the entire village heard it."

Nodoka silently groaned to herself. This wasn't just a mess; it had to
be someone's idea of a really bad practical joke.

"Thank you, Ranma. It appears that we might be able to resolve this
situation peaceably after all."

"Really?" Ranma's eye lit up. "That'd be really *great*, Mom!"

"I said 'might', dear - it would be best not to get your hopes up too
high. We will have to see how Shampoo's guardian reacts."

--------------------

Elder Cologne of the Joketsuzoku was extremely pleased with the latest
unexpected turn of events. She heard some very interesting news the
other day and now had the chance to confirm it directly. If what she
had heard *was* true, and she had every reason to believe it would be
given the source, her great-granddaughter was now the only one with a
legitimate claim on Ranma, and she also had all the ammunition required
to make it happen by playing on the Japanese's peculiar sense of honor
and duty.

She glanced to the side at her great-granddaughter. How someone of
Shampoo's training and potential could turn a relatively simple task
into such a big mess was astounding. She had been given the opportunity
time and again to correct her mistakes, yet only seemed to succeed in
making everything worse than it was at the beginning. If Cologne hadn't
been having such a good time herself - it was almost like taking an
extended vacation with a never ending floor show - she would have
personally brought things to a conclusion a long time ago.

Cologne looked around at the neighborhood the two of them were walking
in. There were more single family houses in this neighborhood than was
usual for Nerima but the properties themselves were maintained only
adequately. The neighborhood was significantly further from the school
than was the Tendo residence, and it was at least equally distant from
the restaurant. The area was evidently also well outside the normal
'fight zone', since there were no indications of recent repairs to the
street and sidewalk walls.

"Shampoo."

"Yes, great-grandmother?"

"The house son-in-law's mother resides in; this is the same house you
helped to destroy several months ago in a fight over a pillbox, is it
not?"

Shampoo hung her head. "Yes, great-grandmother."

"Very well - then you will have to be on your best behavior. *I* will
discuss the situation with his mother. *You* will be polite and
*silent* and do nothing whatsoever that would antagonize her further."

Sigh. "Yes, great-grandmother."

"Give me your own impression of son-in-law's mother, and be precise."

"Yes, great-grandmother. Airen mother like nice-girl Tendo on surface.
Too-too nice and polite, not see bad things in others. Airen mother not
like nice-girl in holding honor above all, even Airen's life. Airen
hide long time from mother over honor. Airen mother only find out girl-
type Ranma and boy-type Ranma both same Ranma before Jusendo."

Cologne sighed quietly to herself. She had gotten just as much herself
in the brief glimpse she had of the former Saotome matriarch during the
chaos of the false wedding.

A few minutes later Shampoo stopped in front of a well-kept and
relatively new house. "We here."

--------------------

Nodoka stood on hearing the striking of the door gong. "Come along,
dear; let us go greet our guests." The two made their way to the
entrance where Ranma opened the door.

"AIREN!"

*Bonk*  "Behave."

"Hi, Shampoo, Cologne."

Nodoka maintained her social facade with some difficulty. A second of
silence elapsed before her son remembered the rest of his part.

"Oh yeah. Cologne, Shampoo, this is my mother, Nodoka Shouri. Mother,
this is Elder Cologne and Shampoo of the Joketsuzoku."

Cologne's eyes glittered in anticipation. The news had been quite
accurate.

Nodoka noted the lack of the traditional house greeting without
comment. "Good evening, Elder Cologne, Shampoo, and welcome to our
home. If you will follow me, please." Nodoka turned to retrace her path
back down the hallway without waiting for a response.

The diminutive Amazon silently pogoed her way down the hall behind
Nodoka. Shampoo immediately took the opportunity to latch tightly onto
Ranma's arm as the two youngsters followed their respective elders.
Ranma rolled his eyes, just thankful he hadn't been glomped. The stroll
to the main room was over with far too quickly for Shampoo's liking.

"If you would please take a seat, we will bring out the tea," Nodoka
said, gesturing to a pair of cushions at the table. "Come along, son."

"Just a second, Mom," Ranma replied as he tried to disentangle his arm
from Shampoo's barnacle-like grip. Cologne frowned slightly on seeing
the current activities of her great-granddaughter.

*Bonk*

"Aya!" Shampoo exclaimed, releasing Ranma to rub her head with both
hands. "Why great-grandmother do that? Shampoo just greeting Airen
nice."

*BONK*

"Sit down, girl."

--------------------

Shampoo tried not to pout openly. Ranma had sat down next to his
mother, *after* her and great-grandmother had been seated opposite the
elder Shouri. There was no way she could properly show her appreciation
to her Airen without getting up and sitting down on the Shouri's side
of the table, and her great-grandmother would have a fit if she tried
doing that now.

The tea the elder Shouri served was like all the others served in this
awful country - weak, bitter, and tasting vaguely like boiled grass. It
had nothing in common with the hearty Keemuns or delicate Oolongs of
her native land. The one thing Shampoo *couldn't* complain about,
however, were the pastries that accompanied the tea. The Amazon warrior
had developed a definite sweet tooth during the time she'd been in
Japan, and the large variety and forms of sweets the Japanese lumped
under the term 'wagashi' never failed to hold her interest or tempt her
palate into wanting more.

The refreshments were partaken in a relatively uncomfortable silence.
Nodoka waited until each of her guests had a chance to enjoy several of
the pastries before beginning.

"Elder Cologne, Shampoo, I have invited you over today so that we may
discuss the details of the current situation which exists between your
clan and mine."

Cologne chuckled. "There's nothing to discuss. Son-in-Law defeated
great-granddaughter; it's time for him to finally be a man and marry
Shampoo."

"I'm sorry, Elder Cologne, but it was my understanding that Shampoo had
given my son *both* the Kiss of Death and the Kiss of Marriage. Are you
now stating that the Kiss of Death no longer applies?"

"Hehehe," the Amazon elder cackled. "The second Kiss overrides the
first; doesn't replace it. If Shampoo fails to marry Son-in-Law, the
first Kiss would still apply. Naturally."

"Very well. I would therefore like to address the circumstances
surrounding the first Kiss. It is my understanding that during the day
my son and former husband were visiting your village, your great-
granddaughter accepted terms for the initial challenge which
specifically prohibited her from taking further action should she lose.
Obviously these terms were not adhered to, which would indicate that
either the Joketsuzoku do not know the meaning of honor or that Shampoo
simply misunderstood the terms of the challenge and followed up her
loss with the Kiss of Death in error. I would trust the latter is true
in this case."

Cologne fumed inside. This ignorant outsider *dared* to question the
Nyuchezuu's honor when her own son had been evading his own
responsibilities for two years?

"Son, please tell the Elder Cologne the exact words you used to
challenge Shampoo for the possession of the tournament's first prize
food."

Ranma nodded. "After the Guide told me that Shampoo was now champion
and asking why we were stealing her food, I said: 'Then if I defeat
you, you've got no problem, right?' When the Guide told Shampoo what
I'd said and she agreed, we both jumped up on the log."

Cologne stared sharply at Shampoo. "Is this the challenge you agreed
to, girl?"

"That not what Guide tell Shampoo, great-grandmother. He say girl-type
Ranma challenge champion for prize. That all."

"So you see, Elder - my son had every right to expect that once he won
the match there would be no further repercussions. Shampoo's Kiss of
Death and her subsequent pursuit of my son to Japan were enacted
because of the deliberate error by a third party. What exactly *does*
the Joketsuzoku laws state when a Kiss is unlawfully bestowed in such a
manner?"

Cologne was rapidly revising her opinion of Ranma's mother - Nodoka
Shouri was entirely too clever for her liking and seemed to have more
than a passing familiarity with the Book of Law. At least *this* point
could be conceded with little loss.

"In the event that the Kiss of Death is given to an Outsider without
due cause, the Kiss will be immediately annulled and no further actions
against the victim shall take place. The Warrior who is responsible
will be punished for committing a Major Crime. In the event that the
Warrior was tricked or deceived into giving the Kiss in error, the Kiss
is annulled as before and the Warrior will be punished for committing a
Minor Crime. The Warrior who is responsible for the trickery or deceit
will be punished for committing a Major Crime. In the event another
Outsider is responsible for the trickery or deceit, that Outsider shall
be declared an Enemy of the Village."

Nodoka poured another round of tea. "So it appears we are all in
agreement on this point."

"Yes, you are right," Cologne replied a bit testily. "The Kiss of Death
is not valid and will not be enforced. That doesn't change a thing
about the other Kiss, though."

"I think you will see the relevance of this very shortly. Even if we
ignore the point that Shampoo should never have pursued my son in the
first place and that all subsequent actions taken by her have no
validity, it *is* a fact there was no formal challenge of marriage
issued before the fight began. The only time a Kiss of Marriage may be
given outside of Joketsuzoku territory is if a formal challenge of
marriage is issued beforehand if both parties willingly agree to uphold
it after the fact. Since neither condition has ever been met and my son
has *never* consented to be bound by its terms, your great-
granddaughter had no right to bestow the Kiss of Marriage to my son
under your laws."

"No, is not so!" Shampoo cried out. "Kiss of Death no matter now;
Shampoo *never* kill Airen once truth is known, but Kiss of Marriage
still good, no require challenge. Shampoo show you." She produced her
Book of Amazon Law and quickly opened it to the correct page. "See -
Kiss no require challenge. Accident no matter, challenge no matter, all
require is Warrior's defeat. Boy-type Ranma defeat Shampoo, Shampoo
give Kiss. Ranma still Shampoo's Airen. He *IS*."

Cologne laughed at her great-granddaughter's display. She couldn't have
scripted it better herself. "It can't be stated any clearer than that.
Ranma's duty is to marry Shampoo, and he'll do it, too - if he knows
the meaning of *honor*."

"Elder Cologne, you are as aware as I am that a Warrior's abridged copy
doesn't contain the entire text of the actual Outsider laws." Nodoka
pulled a large leather bound book out of her kimono sleeve and placed
it down in front of her. "Or perhaps you would prefer that we seek a
full Counsel Ruling on this matter?"

"Oh cool, Mom; you know some Hidden Weapons too!"

Cologne sat stunned on seeing the book the Shouri matriarch had
produced. That wasn't just *a* book on Amazon law, that was *the* book
- the ONLY book. There was only one original Book of Law in existence
and every council member knew its gilt and inlayed binding on sight.
There was no way, no *possible* way for it to be missing from the inner
depths of the Armory, yet the evidence sitting in front of her was
undeniable. Her staff struck out in two lightning quick strikes with
the full force of her strength and speed behind them. There was no time
to think of possible consequences; the Book was the very heart of
Jokutsuzoku society and had to be retrieved at ANY cost.

Elder Cologne was the best Amazon Warrior of her generation and had
consistently improved those skills as the years had passed. She was one
of only a small handful of Amazons who had ever earned the title of
Warmaster before her eightieth birthday and had extreme confidence in
her own abilities. Cologne was, therefore, understandably quite shocked
when her attack was stopped cold before even the first strike had
landed.

Ranma intercepted the attack purely on reflex; his left hand clamped
the end of the staff in an iron grip a quarter meter away from his
mother's head. It took less than a second for his brain to catch up to
what his arm had just done, and the instant it did he felt his control
start to slip. There was no mistaking it; a blow aimed at that spot had
only *one* possible meaning.

"You ..."

"... leave ..."

"... ... Mom ..."

"... ... ... ALONE!"

Ranma's battle aura blossomed with his shout, exploding in a maelstrom
of unleashed emotions, angry reds and blacks nearly overwhelming the
usual blue. A crimson shaft of force erupted from his left hand to
detonate against the Nyuchezuu elder; its power instantly disintegrated
the ki-laden staff and blasted the Amazon through several walls to the
street outside. The moment Cologne was no longer in view Ranma's eyes
tracked unerringly to the remaining threat. His battle aura reluctantly
collapsed back into his body leaving only his eyes blazing with its
power.

Shampoo stood frozen in the middle of the room. She didn't recall
somersaulting to her feet, nor did she remember drawing the sword which
she held shakily out in front of her. Her entire being was filled with
the horrible sight of her beloved Ranma glaring balefully at her, eyes
filled with implacable anger. There wasn't a shred of warmth in that
gaze, no love, no light of friendship or even a hint of recognition;
just the promise of swift and violent retribution.

"Enough!" Nodoka's commanding voice shattered the tableau; a firm hand
on the shoulder preventing her son from taking further action. "You
would be quite foolish to continue your elder's ill-conceived actions,
Shampoo of the Joketsuzoku. Consider your next move most carefully."

The young Amazon warrior shivered. She tore her gaze away from the
awful sight of her beloved Airen but could find no welcome in the eyes
of the Shouri matriarch either. She very carefully returned her sword
to its hidden storage space and tried to assume a neutral posture. Only
after she had relinquished her weapon did Ranma relax even a little.

"Shampoo, you would be well advised to abandon your reckless pursuit of
my son and daughter. By your own laws you have never had valid claim to
his hand or her life. Ranma has expressed his desire for your
friendship, nothing more, but the actions of your elder have
jeopardized even that. By Joketsuzoku law her life is now forfeit
should I so desire, and had she succeeded even in part our customs
would demand blood feud until your clan had been utterly destroyed.
Your clan is no longer welcome to be on these grounds unbidden; you
will take your great-grandmother and vacate the premises immediately."

Shampoo looked back and forth between Nodoka and Ranma, desperately
trying to find something ... *anything* ... which would reassure her that
this hadn't really happened or was all just a dream or a
misunderstanding or a big practical joke of some sort. She didn't
succeed. She stumbled out of the house, barely suppressing the sobs
that threatened to steal her pride away.

--------------------

It was easy to locate her great-grandmother once Shampoo was back out
in the street. Cologne was lying up against the fence in a crumpled
heap on the opposite sidewalk, the path of her hasty and involuntary
departure clearly demarcated by a broken stream of rubble and
intermittent scorch marks. She quickly checked her great-grandmother
over and was almost disappointed that the elder Nyuchezuu had sustained
remarkably little actual damage. It would have served to old bat right
if she'd been killed - Shampoo had *told* her what Ranma had done at
Jusendo, but did any of the Elders ever truly *listen* to the reports
of the village Warriors? Evidently not.

Shampoo had no idea how long her great-grandmother would remain
unconscious so she draped her effortlessly over one shoulder and began
loping gracefully back to the Nekohanten. Unfortunately, the trip home
gave the young Amazon entirely too much time to think.

How could things have gone so wrong so quickly? How? She had arrived at
Ranma's house virtually assured of *finally* claiming him as her
husband, but had left with worse than nothing. His mother now hated her
and had all but threatened them with a death vow, and Ranma had stood
unflinchingly by his mother's side. The elder Shouri had also claimed
that the book of Amazon Laws she had received when she first attained
Warrior status, the book containing the laws she had strived *so* hard
to learn, uphold, and protect, was nothing but a lie, a big fraud
perpetuated by the village elders on the warriors of the village. There
had to be quite a bit of truth to her claim otherwise her great-
grandmother would have simply laughed in her face instead of trying
instantly to kill her. And if Ranma's mother *was* right and neither
kiss was valid in the first place, it meant that she had just spent the
last two years of her life playing the fool.

Shampoo recalled the instructions given to her just before they had
rung the door bell. 'Be on your best behavior,' she said. 'Don't
antagonize her,' she said. 'Be polite,' she said. Hah, what a load of
crock! This time it hadn't been *Shampoo* who had mucked things up so
badly. Nope, this time it was the Grand Elder Cologne, the Old Wise
One, Ms. I Know Everything And You Don't who had royally screwed up by
the numbers, and it was Elder Cologne who had arranged things so that
that Ranma or his kin would *never* willingly ally themselves with the
Jokutsuzoku - let alone actually become one of the them as the beloved
husband of Shampoo.

There was, however, a tiny sliver of hope left. She didn't have to tell
Cologne *every* word of the elder Shouri's proclamation. No, that
little tidbit she would keep to herself - lest her great-grandmother
twist things once more to her own designs and deny Shampoo even the
slightest chance of salvaging anything from this complete and
unmitigated disaster.

--------------------

Nodoka sat at the table with her tea and nibbled on another piece of
wagashi. Her son hadn't yet lowered his guard - he was still staring
intently at the new hole in the outer wall where the elder Amazon had
been so forcibly ejected. Several minutes elapsed before Ranma suddenly
sat down, virtually collapsing on the spot.

"Are you alright, son?"

"Yeah, Mom, just give me a sec." He reached over and grabbed a large
handful of wagashi from the plate. The pilfered sweets rapidly
disappeared.

Nodoka cocked an eyebrow at her son's behavior - she thought that she'd
mostly broken him of that habit. She quickly retrieved the nearly empty
plate of sweets before he could empty it of its remaining contents.

"That's more than enough sugar for you this late in the day, son."

"Aw Mom, I'm *hungry*."

"Still? We just ate a full meal a short while ago."

"I used up a lot of ki, Mom."

Nodoka nodded. "That's true. I'll go see what we have that can be
prepared quickly. In the meantime you might want to figure out how
we're going to plug the new ventilation holes the Amazon elder so
thoughtfully provided us with."

It finally occurred to Ranma how much actual damage had been done to
the house. "Oh crap. I'm sorry, Mom, I wasn't ..."

"That's quite all right, dear, it's not your fault. You simply did what
was necessary, and at least this time it's only a few screen panels
instead of the entire house. However, I can see we are going to have to
establish some strict house rules before I allow any of your other
friends over to visit. The Tendos may tolerate this sort of random
property damage, but I would prefer to live in a house that remained
relatively intact over a reasonable period of time."

"Yes, Mom." His mother's casual acceptance of the damage made him feel
worse, if anything.

"Why don't you go and take a look at the outer fence. There should be
some left over building materials in the shed behind the dojo. If you
can gather up what's necessary, we can fix the fence right after you
eat something."

--------------------

"Ranma, food is ready," Nodoka called out from the kitchen window.

"I'll be there in a minute, Mom, I'm almost done."

Nodoka retrieved another place setting and carried it out to the table.
She could always eat a little bit more herself, if only to keep her son
company. She sat at the table and waited for him to return.

A minute later her ... daughter walked into the room and sat down; her
hair and shirt damp from yet another apparently random encounter with
cold water.

"Mmmm, that looks good. Thanks, Mom."

"Go ahead and start, dear; I'll go get you some hot water."

"Don't worry about it, Mom. I'll change back later when I wash up."
Ranma began eating almost immediately - she was *hungry*. She was also
trying out a new technique she had thought up a couple of days ago; one
that would let her eat at a relatively rapid pace without breaking any
of her mother's dictates regarding table manners. As much as she
enjoyed the luxury of tasting each bite and lingering over her mother's
cooking at dinner, there were often  times like this when she simply
needed to 'refuel' as quickly as possible.

Nodoka stopped herself before she said anything. Ranma was skating
right on the edge of bad manners but wasn't *quite* breaking the rules
- and this wasn't a normal dinner in the first place. Nodoka suspected
she would be serving a lot more of these types of meals in the future.
This one didn't have the variety of foods Nodoka usually served for
dinner, but it more than made up for it by its quantity and Ranma
polished it all off in very little time. The cleanup afterward was also
done in a snap.

"Thank you, daughter," Nodoka said with a nod. "We should go and repair
the fence before sitting down to discuss what happened earlier."

"No need to, Mom," Ranma replied with a smirk. "I finished fixing the
fence just before I came back in."

Nodoka arched an eyebrow at this.

"Hey, I got *lots* of practice patchin' holes and repairing shoji while
I was at the Tendos'. Sometimes it seemed like me and Kasumi were the
only ones willing to do it, too."

"You probably won't find the task of helping me repair the wall screens
too difficult, then. That's something we can do later - I have enough
spare sections to simply replace the damaged ones for now."

A short while later the damaged screens had been replaced and the house
closed up for the evening. Ranma looked somewhat askance at the cup of
tea sitting in front of him. He knew his mother was especially fond of
a good blend, but right now he felt like he would float away if he
drank much more this evening.

"Son, I'm sorry that events managed to get so far out of hand this
evening. I assure you it was *not* my intention to alienate Shampoo in
such a manner."

"I know that, Mom. You shouldn't worry too much 'bout it; I've gotten
kinda used to things being all crazy around me most the time. I sure
wish I could figure out why the old ghoul went off like that, though."

Nodoka rubbed her temple with a hand for a moment. "It appears that I
may have unwitting revealed a secret of some importance to their
culture."

"The book you pulled out just before the old ghoul attacked? I thought
that was just their book of law or something."

"That's exactly what it was, son, a book containing the entire sum of
their culture's laws."

"That just don't make sense, Mom. Why would she flip out like that over
a dumb book?"

"Not all books are dumb, dear - some hold considerable power for those
who can control their contents. Evidently the older Joketsuzoku are not
completely honest with their younger counterparts for this very reason.
This type of internal deception has been known to occur at times
throughout the course of history."

"Yeah, the old ghoul always did make it as hard as possible to learn
stuff from her. It still don't excuse what she tried to do. Cologne's
tried to drug me, pressure me, help me, trick me, teach me, and do damn
near anything she could to get me to marry Shampoo, but she never went
that far before. Mom, she tried to *kill* you."

"I know, son, but she didn't succeed thanks to your efforts. You should
know that she wouldn't have succeeded in any case, and you're quite
fortunate your reflexes are so good. I would have been hard pressed to
deflect that blow myself without injuring you severely had you been any
slower in intercepting the staff."

"Huh? I don't see how, Mom - you didn't have your sword with you and
I'm pretty hard to hurt if you're just using your hands. Your kimono
sleeves are only so bi..." Ranma slapped his forehead. "Oh right - hidden
weapons technique. I know the basics, but I don't like wasting that
much ki all the time."

Nodoka didn't bother to correct her son. The technique she used to
access her 'storage space' was entirely different than the ki-driven
space fold used by martial artists, but the end results were, after
all, essentially the same.

"Quite so, son. You can be assured I am never without the means to
protect myself. "

"Yeah, I can see that now. You're still going to have to be extra
careful from now on, though," Ranma cautioned. "Cologne can be sneakier
than Pops when she really wants to, and she's liable to strike without
warning."

"I suspect that the Elder will soon be far too busy with other more
pressing issues to pay us much attention, Son."

Ranma stared at his mother - she obviously knew more of what was
*really* going on than he did at the moment. "I sure hope you're right,
Mom."

"You can trust me on this one, dear. Now, I believe you should be
getting the results of your finals sometime tomorrow, correct?"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked at the sudden change of subject. "Oh, school.
Right. We're all *supposed* to get our scores tomorrow - provided the
Principal doesn't try pulling another stupid stunt like he did last
year."

"I take it there were some difficulties in obtaining your final test
reports last year?"

"Nah, it really wasn't too bad. The coconut and pineapple bombs are
getting' pretty old, and his trained attack baboons up in the fake palm
trees were easy to distract. The giant Pele robot was new, but it had
*really* weak knee joints. He did a really poor job of hiding the
scores too, 'cause the whole thing only took about a half hour, tops.
It was really below his normal efforts - kinda boring, in fact. No,
what I was talkin' about was the time he scattered our scores across
the city from a hot air balloon"

"I ... see ..."  Nodoka growled. No *wonder* her son was having problems at
school. "Perhaps I should accompany you to school tomorrow and have a
small 'discussion' with your principal."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it, Mom. He can't come up with anything I
can't handle, and it wouldn't do you much good to talk to him anyway.
He's a Kuno, after all."

--------------------

Cologne leapt off of Shampoo's shoulder just before they'd reached the
Nekohanten. The elder had been conscious for a little while now, but
without her staff it'd been far easier to let her great granddaughter
to do all of the running - in spite of it being a little undignified.

Shampoo wasn't surprised when her great-grandmother suddenly dismounted
- she'd felt the elder's subtle movements several minutes ago which
indicated that Cologne had regained consciousness. In the meantime
Shampoo had enjoyed being able to put an extra bit of bounce in her
loping gate without worrying about getting hit on the head with that
damn staff of hers. Once Shampoo felt Cologne leap off her shoulder she
continued to jog until she reached the Nekohanten, where she quietly
held the door open for the matriarch and waited.

Cologne swept past the younger Amazon without a word and proceeded to
march up the stairs with nary a backward glance. She failed to see the
extremely self-satisfied smirk the youngster had assumed in her wake,
just like she failed to hear the commotion caused by their arrival;
Mousse's attempt at greeting his 'Beloved Shampoo' was rebuffed more
venomously than was usual. Cologne made a bee-line for her study and
locked the door behind her before collapsing wearily in her favorite
chair.

She had a lot to think about. How in Hades had the boy gotten so
strong? Cologne couldn't even recall the last time she'd been knocked
unconscious, and Ranma's ki blast reminded her more of Herb than the
weak-willed male she'd been playing around with over the last year and
a half. He had actually *overloaded* her staff - something she hadn't
believed was even possible.

There was also the matter of the Book. The fact that it had been stolen
so silently from the village was bad enough, but to find out it had
been missing this long without anyone noticing the theft was beyond
belief. There were going to be some drastic and long-awaited changes
made in the upper council over this catastrophe and she was in the
perfect position to capitalize on it.

Unfortunately, doing so required that she convene an emergency council
meeting immediately, and none of her normal items or magical artifacts
were sufficiently powerful to either transport her directly home or
converse with so many of her peers at once. She would have to use ...
*that*.

Cologne shuddered - she got a migraine just thinking about having to
use the abomination. Never mind the rest of the council had already
approved its use over her vociferous objections. Well, it couldn't be
helped now, and the irony of the situation wasn't lost on the Nyuchezuu
elder. She could, however, mitigate most of its unpleasant side effects
before she began.

It took less than a minute for Cologne to locate the desired flask. She
carefully dispensed a precisely metered amount into a glass and tossed
back the pungent liquid in a single gulp. She shook her head back and
forth several times to clear out the cobwebs that had suddenly
appeared, then went about gathering all of the necessary items required
to employ ... that.

Forty five minutes later Cologne was finally finished with all of the
preparations. There were numerous things that had to be done in a very
precise and specific manner or nothing would be accomplished, and any
error in the initial preparations introduced the possibility of
permanent damage. She took a moment to double-check everything before
sitting down in the center of it all. Taking a deep breath, the
diminutive elder reached a hand out to begin the process.

*Click*

     IBM ThinkPad 700C
     (c) 1992, 1993 IBM Corp. USA

     POST in progress . . . . . . . . . .
     POST Completed - No errors
     IBM Boot Loader v2.4865b
     > Loading ArtemisOS v8.4k
     > Load complete

     Please enter your UserID and password
     ? KuhLon **************
     User KuhLon authenticated
     Contacting AMAZON.NET server
     Server ONLINE
     Delay max 2437 msec
     There are 73 Users and 2 COps online on 5 Servers
     User KuhLon set mode +c +e +p +L1

     Please select from the following list of choices:
        1) Electronic mail
        2) Current news
        3) Conference room
        4) Utilities
     ? 3
     Loading Conference

     Please enter conference room name (ENTER=MAIN)
     ? InnerCouncil
     Please enter password
     ? ************

     Welcome, user KuhLon to conference room InnerCouncil (private)
     There are 2 Users and 1 COps online in room InnerCouncil
     ? /Alarm
     Are you sure?
     ? Y
     ALARM function invoked
--------------------
END CHAPTER

============================================================
Mark Shurtleff
   email: gaijin@sfcmd.com
   irc alias: Gaijin -or- togashi_gaijin
   fanfiction homepage: http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic
============================================================


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'